Evaporative cooling systems having a variety of features are known in the art. The following U.S. Patents illustrate, by way of example only, several prior art systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 416,405 to Fouquet discloses an air-cooling apparatus for placement in an open door, window, or other air-inlet. The apparatus includes ice baskets and moistened fabrics.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,464,766 to Pennington discloses an air conditioner having circular excelsior pads which rotate at about three revolutions per minute. Pennington further teaches psychrometric cooling.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,362 to Mercer discloses an evaporative cooling system with a refrigeration unit which pre-cools water used to moisten a cooling pad.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,777 to Parren discloses an air handling unit which combines evaporative and refrigerative cooling with an exhaust unit. Cool air is delivered to and warm air is returned from a room via ducts.
Unfortunately, the prior art evaporative cooling systems are large bulky and often expensive units which may cause a visual or aural disturbance in residential or other design-sensitive structures. Prior art systems which incorporate ducts may suffer an additional disadvantage of lower efficiency because cool air may pass through ducts located in warm attics and walls before reaching a room to be cooled.